Turkey turns to crypto as political arrests cause Lira plunge

Crypto exchanges in Turkey saw an almost 29% surge in trading volume over the past 24 hours after the Turkish Lira (TRY) plunged to a record low following the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rival, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Top Turkish exchanges BtcTurk and Paribo have both seen a 29% and 23% increase in 24-hour trading volume respectively.

The trading volume of Binance’s Turkey branch, Binance TR, also rose almost 24%, while the bitcoin-lira pair reportedly rose to the highest hourly trading volume across the past year.

Read more: Coinbase to leave Turkey after ending USDC yields in EU

Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested today while Turkey also restricted access to various social media platforms. The detention took place days before İmamoğlu was to be selected as a presidential candidate and was described as a “coup attempt” by the opposition.

Shortly after, the price of TRY fell by almost 13% to a record low of 42 per USD. Turkish citizens have turned to crypto for years as the Lira continues to fall in price.